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Comfortable, affordable, stylish shoes from MEL

Let me start this review by simply saying these are the best shoes I've ever owned, and I wish I'd had them all my life!

Up until recently I never wore ballet style flat shoes as whenever I did buy any I found they ripped my heels to shreds and I just gave up on them as they were too uncomfortable to wear. I never understood how most people didn't have the same problems and found them a really easy shoe to wear. Then I discovered these MEL Jube shoes on the Very website for £25 and after reading a few favourable reviews decided to give them a go.

The main thing that made me think these shoes were worth trying is that they're made of rubber, and I remembered how comfortable those 'jelly shoes' were that I used to wear as a kid. Thankfully however these do not remotely resemble the ugly, cheap looking jelly shoes, they in fact look very stylish and high quality, and you can't even tell they're made of rubber until you get right up close to them.

These shoes are available in either black or gold, I currently have the gold ones but am also thinking about purchasing the black ones. They are very simple in style, but also have little intricacies that make them just a little bit different from a plain pump. The sides of the shoes are cut out to look almost like knitwear with an open knit, and on the top of the front of the shoe is a cute little bow. I'm often put off by shoes with bows on the front as I think it can look a bit daft to be honest, but this one is small enough that it looks really nice, and because it's the same colour as the shoe it doesn't stand out too much. The gold colour of the shoes is also quite muted, not sparkly or glittery, so they are suitable for casual wear.

The shoes are available in sizes 3 to 8, so pretty standard as far as shoes go, not accomodating those with larger feet. I'm a size 5 or 6 depending on the type of shoe and as I'm not overly familiar with this type of shoe I ordered both and found the 6 to be the perfect fit. They are a close fitting shoe which would not generally be worn with socks, so if you were intending to wear socks with them you would probably need to go a size bigger than your normal size.

As far as I can tell the shoes are made from only 2 separate pieces of moulded rubber (not including the little bows which are fixed on the top), and these are attached very cleanly and neatly to each other, meaning there are no ridges or lumps anywhere to dig in or rub at your feet. From the first time I wore them they were so comfortable to wear, they didn't need to be 'broken in' at all. The only slight issue I had was that they made my heels ache a little at first, but this was simply due to the fact that I was notused to wearing shoes with such a thin sole, so if you are used to wearing ballet flats this would not be a problem for you.

One thing I hadn't thought about before buying these was what kind of rubber they're made of, a glaring omission on my part as I have a latex allergy! However I'm happy to report that these haven't caused me any problems in that respect.

These are very versatile shoes which can easily be worn smart or casual, and look great with leggings, jeans or skirts. I've worn them so often since buying them and I really wouldn't be without them now. They look and feel very high quality and are very affordable and so comfortable I'll definitely be buying more MEL shoes in the future. Very highly recommended.